Method of cleaning streets.



B. KERN, mi METHOD OF CLEANING STREETS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.

30. I9II.

Patented Mar. 26, 1918.

B. KERN, JII.

METHOD 0F CLEANING STREETS.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. so. I9II.

www?, Patente@ Mar. 26, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

@mu/Mba r BERNARD KERN, R., OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

METHOD 0F CLEANING STREETS;

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, BERNARD KERN, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Cleaning Streets, of which the following .is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to methods of cleaning streets and has for its object the provision of a method of the character stated adapted in its operation to remove from street surfaces the usual dirt and refuse there to be found. with such efficacy as to include with equal facility the ner particles or dust and the heavier or larger masses and lumpy substances.

The obj ect of the present invention is to so operate upon surface material and litter that the same will be elevated by entrainment through the employment of a relatively narrow gradually converging volume of air, While maintaining the volume of air during .the upward movementl of substantially equal area and varying at points in different cross section. By this means a low pressure may be obtained while creating a rapid movement of air for entrainment purposes. A further objectof the invention is that of minimizing the expense of operation of sweeper plants or machines.

After 'years of experiment and repeated tests with various machines of the character above referred to, I have discovered that to obtain the necessary eiiiciency, the volume of' the a1r 1n the respectlve sections of the con-k.

duit which takes in or entraps the refuse and which conveys the same to its predetermined place of deposit or accumulation, must at all times be maintained constantly uniform, both as respects volumev and pressure, throughout each of said sections.

With the foregoing matters in mind my method of cleaning streets may be readily understood by those skilled in the art from a recitation of the various steps constituting a part of and employed in carrying the method into practical edect, the same consisting in causing a large carrying or conveying volume of air under low pressure to enter and pass through a conduit having an intake adjacent vto the street surface, maintaining the air volume and pressure into and through the interior of the conduit, discharging the air and the material carried Specification of Letters Patent. Famenne@ Riagg., 269 jgmgc application mea January 3o, 1911.l

Serial No. 605,588.

a clear understanding of the same I will illustrate one. embodiment of my invention in the apparatus herein, from which illustration and the appended detail description the characteristic features vof the apparatus will be apparent.

Referring to the drawings: l

Figure l is a longitudinal vertical sectional view, largely diagrammatic, of my improved machine;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged'plan view of the conduit removed from the machine; v Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view on the line m--m of Fig. 2, 4 Fig. 4 is a similar view on the line y-y, Fig. 3, and

Figs. 5 and 6 are front and end views respectively of the mouth piece of the conduit showing the relative proportions of the walls to give the elongated or flattened contour toy said mouth piece while maintaining the interior uniform throughout, and of thesame cross sectional area as the cylindrical portions of the conduit or pipe sections leading to and from the fan, arranged intermediate of said sections.

Referring more specifically to the drawings wherein like reference characters designate correspondingv parts in the several views, A represents a motor driven vehicle of any convenient style having drive connections B with a rotary cylindrical brush C arranged transversely of the vehicle near the forward end thereof, and drive connections D, with a rotatable dust collector E arranged within a compartment F located at the rear portion of the vehicle. G represents a fan also having a driving connection H withthe motor of the vehicle, J the cylindrical intake section or pipe leading `to the intake of the fan and from the elongated flattened mouth portion K arranged being fiexible for that purpose. M is the.-l

a uptake or main conveying portion of the conduit, the same connecting with the outlet of the fan G and thence running rearwardly into the top of the compartment F whence it discharges freely into said compartment.

As shown in the drawings, the fan Gr and the mouthpiece K, the conduit section el, and conduit section M, are connected to afford a continuous conduit from beginning to end. The uniform interior size of the conduit sections .I and M and mouth-piece K is faithfully n'iaintained throughout the length of the section lll and throughout the height of the combined upright section .I and mouthpiece K. Under these conditions it will be impossible for the density of the carrying or conveying volume of air constituting the column within the section J and mouthpiece K, or that of the volume of air in the section M, to vary during its passage. through any one of these members or sections, which variation would permit retardation or liberation of particles from the air in said sectional member. Such a deposit or collection upon the walls of the conduit would frustrate successful results. In the conduit sections referred to, uniform area must be preserved until the refuseladen volume of airV is discharged from the extreme end of the conduit into the compartment F.

rI`he brush C is designed to raise the dust and refuse from the street surface into the sphere of influence of the inrushing volume of air feeding to the mouth of the conduit, which/nir entrains the dust and particles. Immediately upon discharge of the refuse laden air into the compartment F, the air is permitted to expand Within the large area there presented, the heavier particles falling by gravity and collecting upon the bottom of the compartment, the dust collector E intercepting the escaping light air currents passing` therethrough and through the outlets N at the sides of the compartment. The specific details of the dust collector and filter outlets need not be fully discussed herein in view of the fact that the same are disclosed `in my co-pen'ding application Serial No. 216,069, tiled July 11, 1904.

The finer particles of dust are collected..

on the outer surface of the fabric folds e of the collector E, as the air passes therethrough, and as the collector is rotated said particles are shaken from the separator through the medium of the cooperating cam and spring-pressed rods ef and del pos'ited in what I have termed a dead-air chamber O, that is a chamber removed from the influence of air currents within the compartment F and having communication at its.

top with the sheets or folds of the collector unmediately thereaboye, it being understood necesaria'.

atthe lower portion of the collector and immediately above the opening in the dead-air chamber are shaken torelease the dust the same is deposited in said chamber. As heretofore observed the air passing through the collector escapes to the outside of the compartment F through the ,medium of the filtering outlets N.

It should be here observed that the volume of refuse-laden air conducted through the pipe M and discharged into the compartment F must be under low pressure to enable the .immediate expansion of the air to liberate and permit the heavy substances to be deposited at the bottom of the compartment rather than forced onto the dust collector Il, the dust collector being designed for dust alone, and in practice I have found that operating under low pressure as stated, the desired separating results are obtained to a remarkably'nice degree of eXactness. By discharging the material under low pressure into the relatively large chamber, as stated, the expansion of the air will liberate the matter collected and previously borne thereby, permitting the same to fall by gravity, that is, the heavier particles, the dust and lighter particles being caught by the dust collector,-all this as distinguished from shooting the discharge from the conduit outwardly therefrom under high pressure which would throw the substances carried thereby beyond the influence of the dust collector or the heavier matter onto the dust collector, needlessly obstructing and impairing the operation of the latter.

.i-Lnother feature of merit resides in the fact that the intake pipe J of the air conduit as a whole is arranged inapproximately an upright position, as distinguished from au inclined position. This reduces the fric'- 'Lthat when those sheets or folds of the fabric tion between the walls of said pipe and the refuseladen air and presents practically no o listruction, such as would be presented by an inclined. wall, in the path of travel of the refuse-laden air from the inlet of the mouthpiece to the fan. The forcing action of the fan in the pipe section M issutficient to clear any elbow or turn therein.

It is of greatimportance that the dust collector, air conduit and fan be proportioned in strict keeping with the theory'under-lying my method, else the best results cannot be obtained,-the parts will speedily clog and render the machine entirely inoperative for practical purposes. For eX- ainple., in one embodiment of the invention it may be assumed that a No. 45 Sturtevant fan having an inlet and outlet area of approximately 226' inches lis employed. The uptake pipe section J and the upper or conducting section M will have a corresponding 17 inches in diameter, and this area will be duit, to wit, an area of 226 inches. The op-v eration would be carried on unde'r a pressure of approximately one and one-half ounces, the fan exhausting about 6000 cubic feet per minute and the dirt box having an expansion area of about 411 cubic feet. Under these conditions the dust collector `would contain 129,07 5 square inches, in each square inch of which there will be 55 square inches of opening, the remainder of .the square inch being taken up by the threads so that the total amount of opening in the 129,075 square inches of cloth is 17,647

i square inches for the passage of air therethrough. rlhe amount of cloth is based upon approximately 500 square inches of cloth to one square inch of fan discharge. i

From the foregoing the method Will be clear. The dust, dirt and refuse on the street, preferably in its dry state, is freed from the street surface, for example by the rotary brush C, so that the particles Will enter the zone of influence of the volume of air entering the mouth piece. There the particles are entrapped by the air, the same being entirely surrounded by the air. By moving such laden volume of air, under the uniform pressure, While maintaining the same volume throughout the respective conduit members constituting the air conduit, the refuse is conveyed through the section J, fan G and sectionrM to the compartment F without danger of clogging or any impediment Whatever to the operation irrespective of the character of the material, whether dust or relatively large or lumpy bodies. lVhen the air and debris is discharged into the expansion chamber Within y the compartment F, the heavier parts will fall by gravity caused by the immediate great expansion of the air, and the finer parts that will follow a current of air will pass through to the dust collector where the dust will adhere to the cloth andbe held by the slight air pressure in the compartment. As the dust collector revolves and the pockets of the same enter the dead-air chamber the sustaining pressure is relinquished and the cloth is shaken automativallow the air to escape.- The air `discharges 4position to the travel of through the openings at the sides of the compartment, the same being of adequate size to permit free escape thereof, and traversing an irregular course through the moss :tilter any remaining line dust in the air is there arrested.

It is to be understood that the specific figures given herein are merely illustrative and not restrictive, they being-approximate and givenwith a view of assisting those skilled in the art to a successful carrying forward of the method herein outlined.-

l will not claim herein the apparatus herein disclosed, inasmuch as the same more properly constitutes subject matter for a divisional application.

li claim:

v 1. The method of cleaning streets, consisting in catchingl and conveying the refuse by means of a; column of air of varying form but of uniform size throughout the course of its conveying travel, permitting the air to expand in a relatively large area at the end of such travel to liberate matter carried by the air from the influence thereof, and separating any .remaining matter from the air to purify the latter, substantially as described.

2. The method of cleaning streets, consisting in catching and conveying the refuse by means of a column of air of varying form but of uniform size throughout the course of its 'conveying travel, permitting the air to expand in a relatively large area at the `end of such travel to liberate the heavier matter carried by the air from theinliuence thereof, separating the lighter matter from the air, and filtering the air to relieve it of any remaining ine dust or the like to purify the air, substantially as described.

3. The vmethod of cleaning streets, consisting in catching and conveying the refuse by means of a column of air of varying form but of uniform size throughout the course of 'its conveying travel, permitting the air to expand in a relatively large area at the end of such travel to liberate matter carried by www the air from the iniiuence thereof, separating anyrremaining matter from the air to purify the latter, and permittingVV such puried air to escape entirely beyond the zone of action of the refuse-laden column of air to prevent exertion of back pressures in oplsaid refuse-laden air.

4. The method of cleaning streets consisting in liberating the refuse from a street surface and throwing the same into the 0perating zone of a column of air of varying form, entrapping and conveying such refuse by means of said column of air, maintaining said column of air in a uniform size throughout the course of its conveying travel, permitting the air to expand in a relatively large area at the end of such travel to liberate matter carried by the air from the influence thereof, and separating any remaining matter from the air to purify the latter, substantially as described.

5. The method of cleaning streets consisting in liberating the refuse from a street surface and throwing the same into the operating zone of a column of air of varying form but of uniform size throughoutthe course of its conveying travel, entraining and conveying such refuse by means of said column of air, discharging the refuse-laden air, at low pressure and permitting the same to expand in a relatively large area at the end of its conveying travel to liberate the heavier foreign matter therefrom and permitv the same to deposit, and separating from the air any remaining dust therein.

6. The method of cleaning streets consisting in liberating the refuse from a street surface and throwing the same into the operating zone of a column of air of varying form, entraining and conveying such refuse by means of said column of air, maintaining said column of air in a uniform size throughout the course of its conveying travel, permitting the air to expand in a relatively large area at the end of such travel to liberate matter carried by the air from the influence thereof, separating any remaining matter from the air to purify the latter, and collecting said separated remaining` matter in a space located beyond the influence of the discharging air currents.

7. The method of cleaning streets consisting in liberating the refuse from a street surface and throwing the same into the op-. erating zone of a column of air of varying form but of uniform size throughout the course of its conveying travel, entraining and conveying such refuse by means of said column of air, discharging the refuse-laden air, at low pressure and permitting the same to expand in a relatively large area at the igaeaaar end of its conveying travel to liberate the heavier foreign matter therefrom and permit the same to deposit, separating from the air any remaining dust therein, and collecting said separated dust in a space located beyond the influence of the discharging air currents.

8. The method of cleaning streets consisting in liberating the refuse from a street surface and'throwing the same into the operating zone of a column of air of varying form but of uniform size throughout the course of its conveying travel, entraining and conveying such refuse by means of said. column of air, discharging the refuse-laden air, at low pressure and permitting the same to expand in a relatively large area at the end of its conveying travel to liberate the heavier foreign matter therefrom and permit the same'to deposit, separating from the air any remainingdust therein, collecting said separated dust in a space located beyond the influence of the discharging air currents, and finally filtering the air to purify the same. substantially as described,

9. The method of removing and collecting refuse from street surfaces consisting in causing a volume of air adjacent to the surface being treated to move upwardly through a conduit of varying cross sectional dmensions but of uniform area throughout freeing the refuse from the street surface to cause it to be entrained by said air, lifting the material by the air while maintaining uniform pressure and volume of the air during the entire lifting interval, and discharging the air with its entrained material for separating purposes.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

i BERNARD KERN, JR. Witnesses JOSEPH C. STEBBINS, BENTLEY GARDINER. 

